Ohio State’s men’s golf team currently boasts 10 of its 12 players from the state of Ohio

March 25, 2008

by Jeff Smith Contributor, BigTen.org

When Ohio State’s Jim Brown corresponds with a recruit interested in his men’s golf team, he will tell them first about the great academic tradition the Buckeyes have in Columbus. But soon thereafter he will speak of the famed Scarlet Golf Course, about legendary Buckeye Jack Nicklaus, and the pride of playing at THE Ohio State University.

The pride stems from within really. Brown was a two-sport student-athlete in golf and basketball for the Buckeyes and was a 1966 graduate of OSU. He roomed with golf legend Tom Weiskopf and played backup as a freshman to the likes of seniors John Havlicek, Jerry Lucas and Bob Knight on the basketball team. Despite a two-year stint at Rollins College in Winter Park, Fla., where he earned his Masters degree, Brown has been an Ohioan his whole life. He was born in Martins Ferry, Ohio, and spent four years as the Kent State head golf coach and assistant basketball coach in Kent prior to his arrival in Columbus 35 years ago.

So it should be no surprise that the majority of his 2008 squad’s background has a unique Ohio flavor to it. Ten of Brown’s 12 golfers hail from the Buckeye state, several from just outside of Columbus’ city limits.

Brad Smith came to OSU from Peru, Ind., a three-hour drive from Columbus, while Patrick Simard is a native of Madrid, Spain.

Brown’s philosophy over the years has been to attract the top local golfers, then the best from the self-described “Big Ten Country” and only then, from the rest of the country and international regions. It’s almost a duty of Brown’s to uphold the tradition of the program, which has been laced with top area and statewide golfers for years.